Bánzer Suárez, Hugo

born July 10, 1926, Santa Cruz, Bol.

died May 5, 2002, Santa Cruz

Soldier and president of Bolivia (1971–78, 1997–2001).

After an education in Bolivian and U.S. Army training schools, Bánzer served in various government posts. He became president after participating in the overthrow of two Bolivian governments in 1970 and 1971. A conservative, he encouraged foreign investment and severely repressed all opposition. His restrictions of union activities and constitutional liberties led to opposition by labour, the clergy, peasants, and students. A 1978 coup d'état overthrew him, but he was democratically elected in 1997. He resigned in 2001.

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▪ 2003

      Bolivian president (b. May 10, 1926, Concepción, Bol.—d. May 5, 2002, Santa Cruz, Bol.), headed a military regime in the 1970s and a democratically elected government in the late 1990s. Defenders credited him with having helped move Bolivia toward democratic government, but detractors saw him as a dictator. He entered the Colegio Militar in La Paz at the age of 14 and later studied at the Argentine staff college, at the School of the Americas in Panama, which was run by the U.S. Army, and at Fort Hood, Texas. He was a cavalry officer before serving as minister of education in 1964–66, being appointed a military attaché, which included a period of duty in Washington, D.C., and becoming head of the Colegio Militar in 1969. After leading a failed coup against Gen. Juan José Torres Gonzáles, the Bolivian president, Bánzer was exiled in January 1971, but he secretly returned later in the year and in August overthrew the government. His rule was brutally oppressive, with the news media censored and political activity forbidden. It was estimated that 15,000 citizens were arrested on political charges and that 19,000 sought asylum in other countries; several hundred people were killed. Bánzer survived 13 coup attempts before being overthrown in 1978. He then formed Nationalist Democratic Action and ran in all six presidential elections in the 1980s and 1990s. Although he won a plurality in the 1985 election, he stood aside when Congress chose another candidate as president. Under the same situation in the 1997 election, Congress picked Bánzer, and he began his second term as president. With prodding from the U.S., he effectively eliminated the country's cocaine production, but his administration was characterized by corruption and instability. He resigned the presidency in August 2001 because of poor health.

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▪ president of Bolivia

byname  El Petiso (Spanish: “The Short One”)  

born May 10, 1926, Concepción, Bolivia

died May 5, 2002, Santa Cruz

      soldier and politician who was president of Bolivia from 1971 to 1978 and from 1997 to 2001.

      Bánzer was educated at the Bolivian Army Military College and in two United States Army training schools. He served as minister of education from 1964 to 1966 in the cabinet of President René Barrientos and as military attaché in Washington from 1967 until 1969, when he returned to Bolivia to head the Military College. In successive governmental changes between right- and left-wing officers, the conservative Bánzer helped General Rogelio Miranda overthrow President Alfredo Ovando in September 1970; Bánzer himself overthrew the leftist General Juan José Torres on August 22, 1971. Bánzer encouraged foreign investment, but his restrictive policies regarding union activity and constitutional liberties led to opposition from labour leaders, clergymen, peasants, and students. All opposition was severely repressed. In 1974 he survived two coup attempts and also suppressed a peasant uprising.

      Bánzer declined to run for president in the 1978 elections, which were won by General Juan Pereda Asbún amid universal charges of vote fraud (50,000 more votes were cast than there were registered voters). Pereda himself requested a new election, but before it could take place, he staged a coup, forcing Bánzer to resign on July 21, 1978. Exiled by Pereda to Argentina, Bánzer returned in 1979 and founded the Acción Democrática Nacionalista (ADN; Nationalist Democratic Action), which became one of the country's most powerful parties. Bánzer ran for president in 1985 and won in the popular vote but lost in the subsequent run-off vote in the country's Congress. He was successful in his bid for the presidency in 1997, but his administration struggled amid allegations of corruption and nepotism. Several general strikes were held, and there were calls for his resignation. Bánzer drew international praise, however, for significantly reducing Bolivia's cultivation of coca, a plant used to produce cocaine. In 2001 Bánzer resigned from office after being diagnosed with cancer.

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